Hawkeye Foundation Board Member Honored at 8 Over 80

Ken Allbaugh Biggest Accomplishment: His leadership and involvement on the boards of Hawkeye Community College and the Hawkeye Foundation. One Word that Describes You: Volunteer. Someone Who Inspired You and Why: Parents Roy and Cornelia Allbaugh and Harold Brock, one of Hawkeye's founders. "They had an appreciation of what a community is," said Allbaugh. "It takes people to work at it where they're living."

WATERLOO - Volunteering is part of Ken Allbaugh's genetic makeup.

The retired Energy engineer traces his interest in civic engagement back to his parents and growing up in Eagle Grove, a town 25 miles northeast of Fort Dodge.

"My folks were active in that community for 40 years," said Allbaugh, including his father's service on the school board. Roy and Cornelia Allbaugh were so active in Eagle Grove that Ken and his sister founded an award in their honor 26 years ago. It is given out annually by Eagle Grove's chamber of commerce.

Allbaugh's parents serve as an inspiration for his own community involvement. "That gene, you might say, was implanted," he said. At age 88, he continues to volunteer in a number of community organizations.

Allbaugh initially pursued a degree in engineering when he started at Iowa State University. "I got into radar training with the Marines in '43," he said, after being drafted into the military during World War II. He completing a degree in electrical engineering after two years in the military.

His military experience is another reason for his community involvement. While he became an instructor in field artillery and never served overseas, other young men from Eagle Grove died during the war - five in Europe and two in the Pacific.

"They paid the price," he said.

Allbaugh met his wife, Meg, while a Marine in western Pennsylvania. The couple raised three children: David, Ann and Laurie. Meg died in 2008.

He graduated from Iowa State in August 1947 and shortly after started working as an electrical engineer for Iowa Public Service (now MidAmerican Energy) in Waterloo. Between 1949 and 1960, he worked in Eagle Grove and Shell Rock before returning to Waterloo, where he retired in 1987 as a district engineer.

Allbaugh didn't see retirement as a reason to pull back. Allbaugh's involvement with the Boy Scouts dates back to the early 1950s, and he's still on the executive board of the Winnebago Council. In addition, he counts a combined 55 years of involvement with the Lion's Club in Eagle Grove and Shell Rock and the Civitan and Rotary clubs in Waterloo.

Allbaugh sees his involvement with what was originally called Hawkeye Institute of Technology as his most significant contribution, though.

He's been on the board of Hawkeye's foundation for 42 years, since it was created in 1969. He served 27 years on Hawkeye's board of trustees, from 1969 to 1983 and 1986 to 1998.

"My dad was active on the school board, that's why I was excited to serve on the Hawkeye Tech and later the community college board," said Allbaugh. He was chairman 20 years ago when the board of trustees voted to become a community college and said it's been exciting to see the growth through the years. "That's been very satisfying to me, when I was able to be there (while) they got some really neat things accomplished."

Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier

Photograph by Matthew Putney, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.